12,000 MILES OF APPRECIATION: We did it! The DDC 2016 Fall Tour is complete, and man, I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to go to so many wild places, meet so many cool people, sell and sign a mountain of books, whip through so many states, and, all in an orange Ford Econoline E-350 van. #stubbornfacts

Thank you to everyone who came out to the shows, bought some merch, brought in their books to sign, bought a book, shook our hands, told us their stories, came to a workshop, loaded in merch, shared a dinner with, helped us “find the gig”, set up any number of hospitable nights and facilitated the greatest adventure of my life.

I didn’t get into graphic design to make books. Or go on a fuckin’ book tour? I got into graphic design to make a living. So this? I can’t believe what we pulled off. Still nursing a big ol' orange buzz. So thankful. #appreciation

And, uh, we’re currently scheming up a blistering Spring Tour, that’ll cover, uh, EVERYWHERE ELSE. Dates announced after the new year!

We've been waiting for this one since that surreal day in November of 2014 when we got the call up to the big leagues by John Gall of Abrams Books! Things really heated up when we signed the contracts in March of 2015! That's when shit went from "maybe, huh, really?" to "we're doing this thing!", and quick. And today, the last year of fret, sweat, nightmares, freak-outs, production, color-correcting, scanning, compiling, scheming, kerning, dreaming, wondering, anticipation and general excitement comes to a big ol' "Pantone Orange 021" head.

Be free, DDC Book. Get out there!

- - - -

GRAND CANYONS OF APPRECIATION ARE FELT: To my mom for always being there, to my dad wherever the hell he is in the cosmos, to Leigh for patience, to Leah, Jacob and Oliver, to sister Sarah, to Goo and Dave for helping me shoot shit, to all my rotgut buddies, heroes and mentors who wrote a paragraph on pages 006-007, to Mark Welsh, Neil Dacosta, Aaron Okayama and Micheal Poehlman for photography, Jim Coudal, Michele Seiler, Bryan Bedell, Matt Jorgensen and Dawson and all Field Notes peoples in Chicago,

To Andrea Robinson, Peter Donahue, Mindy Koentopp and Jane Vandenberg of RR Donnelly for helping me make the slipcase. So many people wouldn't give me the time of day and you guys CAME THROUGH and made it happen for the book. Thank you. Brillianta 4196 forever!

And finally, to all of you who bought one. Thanks, you guys. I didn't get into graphic design to make books. I got into graphic design to make a living. And today, my fuckin' mind is blown. Thank you for this privilege and opportunity, and for believing in me. And for believing in the DDC. Thank you.

- - - -

EVERYTHING ELSE, EVERYTHING ELSE, EVERYTHING ELSE: When we first got this thing going, I had a long wishlist readied. And man, Abrams hit all the big ones for the book. Debossed cover, Orange 021 spot color throughout the entire book, 256 pages...I was in heaven. And the coolest part, the book would be super affordable at the $39.99 retail price. I was proud as hell of that. I remember not being able to afford big design books. So I'd flip through them and leave 'em behind. Our book? Viciously affordable.

But of course, I went ape-shit and built a big list of "Everything Else" including a boss slipcase, mini prints, merit badge, decal sheet, bookmarks, a couple sets of fiercely limited edition Field Notes "Pretty Much Everything" edition and other goodies. Mystery items, too. That's a pretty big pile of stuff.

And just to be clear, the DDC "Everything Else" Enhancement Kit DOES NOT come with the book. Buy that separately. The "EEEK" kit comes with a beautiful slipcase filled with items designed to enhance the book.

BUILT LIKE A BRICK SHITHOUSE: Wait until you see that slipcase up close! Beautiful orange Brillianta fabric wrapping and thick, thick walls. Will Protect your "Pretty Much Everything" from, well, pretty much everything.

And just to be crystal clear, the enhancement kit DOES NOT come with a "Pretty Much Everything" book. Order that off Amazon here, or find it at a retailer near you. The DDC "Everything Else" Enhancement Kit is a product of the Draplin Design Co., built to ENHANCE the book you bought.

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY: Today is May 16th. Tomorrow is the May 17th book release!!! All this time. All this freaking out. All the pages. All the fret. Coming to one big Pantone Orange 021 head tomorrow.

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http://www.draplin.com/2016/05/ddc_book_seven_days_out.htmlDailyTue, 10 May 2016 08:22:44 -0800Shimmering Airwaves: Listen To The Master of One Podcast!

NICE GROUP OF FELLAS: Met the boys from the Master of One Podcast at Creative South, and we signed the paperwork to be on the podcast. We covered many topics, and went WAY over their allotted time. Give it a listen!

Nice to hang with you guys in Georgia. Thanks you, Luke, Andrew and Patrick! Stay wild!

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http://www.draplin.com/2016/05/shimmering_airwaves_listen_to_the_master_of_one_podcast.htmlDailyWed, 04 May 2016 17:44:29 -0800DDC vs. New York City!!!What New York's been seeing for a month or so.

My mom is here! Leigh is here! Cameron's gonna be there. And my cousin Tom who lives here in the city. Matt Cooley better fuckin' show up. Eric Baker, too. Evan and Maja are coming down from Vermont. And word is that cute duo of Dan Cassaro and Dan Christofferson might muscle their way in. And then, 490 of New York City's best and brightest.

So yeah, real excited for the whole thing. Thank you Stacey from AIGANY and my buddies at Abrams. Now we're off to get some of those boss foam Statue of Liberty hat things...

Come to the show tomorrow night!

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http://www.draplin.com/2016/04/ddc_vs_new_york_city.htmlDailyTue, 26 Apr 2016 12:20:55 -0800Heading Up To New York City To Sign Posters For Bernie!
"American Flag Bernie!"

Leigh is flying in from Portland, Burlington's Novovic-Rose duo will be in the city and we'll all meet up with Luis Calderin from Bernie's campaign. Gonna be fun to see the show up close! New York City!

HAD A GREAT TIME ON THE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: Crop was awesome. A fast, fun couple of days. Got to hang with Jason Craig, Mike Jones, the Hood sisters and my man, Howard Hall! Thank you to the Dawson family and all the folks who came to the conference, and, to our merch table! You guys ravaged that table. Bam! Hell yeah, Baton Rouge!